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Federal vaccine policy has shifted toward fewer recommended routine childhood vaccinations, more emphasis on individual decision-making, and greater skepticism about the safety and efficacy of some vaccines. The changes coincide with declining childhood vaccination rates, rising exemptions from school vaccine requirements, and a major measles resurgence.
States are taking different regulatory approaches to AI mental health tools in response to concerns about chatbots providing inaccurate or potentially dangerous advice. Laws and pending legislation in some states restrict AI from providing or advertising itself as therapy, while others focus on data protections, disclosures, and patient consent requirements.
This issue brief provides an update on the latest trends in kindergarten children's routine vaccination and exemption rates. Over three-quarters of states had measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccination rates below the “target” rate of 95% for the 2025-2026 school year.
States and local governments, rather than the federal government, have authority over school vaccination requirements, and while all 50 states and DC require certain vaccines for school attendance, they vary substantially in how exemptions are granted and administered. As the Trump administration has moved away from longstanding federal childhood vaccine recommendations, an increasing number of states are delinking their vaccine policies from CDC/ACIP guidance, while recent state policy changes have generally made non-medical exemptions easier…
A comprehensive timeline of public health policy actions by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Trump administration from 2025-2026, with key dates, descriptions, and impacts.
Examines the White House’s latest Executive Order seeking to reshape U.S. childhood vaccine recommendations, including a directive to separate MMR vaccines and use a new HHS task force for federal recommendations. It finds that the order is unlikely to have an immediate or sweeping effect on U.S. vaccine policy given courts blocked earlier, similar administration actions, and states are increasingly decoupling their policies from federal recommendations.
On August 5, 2026 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first-ever mRNA flu vaccine for adults 50 and older, following a trial of roughly 40,000 people. KFF polling in April 2025 found that most adults ages 50 and older were uncertain whether mRNA vaccines are safe.
Fact sheet examining actions taken by the Trump administration and their impact on CEPI.
Fact sheet examining actions taken by the Trump administration and their impact on Gavi.
Most adults (56%) say they have “little” to “no confidence” in federal health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make recommendations about childhood vaccine schedules.
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